1985 Porsche 959 S Prototype Is a True One-Of-One With Stellar Performance

By Brett Foote - August 23, 2022

Only a handful of Porsche 959 S Prototype cars were built, and this restored example might be the only one left.

The Porsche 959 is one of the most iconic vehicles ever produced, one that was way ahead of its time in terms of both performance and technology. Even by today’s standards, the 959 is incredibly capable, and uniquely, it’s equally so on both paved and unpaved tarmac. These days, 959s sell for huge money thanks to all of these attributes, but one could argue that this 1985 Porsche 959 S Prototype might just be more special than all of them. Coincidentally, it’s also up for sale at over at Girado & Co.

A very small handful of Porsche 959 prototypes were built prior to the production car’s launch, all of them divided into three different series. Just three of the 12 F-Series prototypes – the earliest of the bunch, riding on the 930 911 chassis – were built in total. Of that dozen, two were non-functional mockups, 10 were drivable, and three were Porsche 959 S prototype cars for the eventual higher-performance variant.

This particular Porsche 959 S prototype is one of those three, and it certainly looks like one of the 29 Sport production examples at first glance, which is a testament to how good it is. There are some obvious clues, if one looks closely enough, however – including the imperfectly-formed rear wing, a crudely fabricated exhaust system, a lack of wheel well liners, an oil filler cap that’s opened by a handle in the engine bay, the lack of washer jets for the headlights, a Komfort interior, and a handful of other interesting quirks. Lacking many of the features present in the production 959 S, this prototype weighs around 100 kilograms less, making it even quicker, too.

This particular car – dubbed F9 – made plenty of appearances on the track and the covers of multiple magazines before US-based Porsche and Audi concessionaire Vasek Polak was gifted this car and F7 for display purposes. When Polak passed away years later, both cars were listed for sale in Europe, and F9 wound up landing in private hands for the first time, at which point it was treated to a total restoration.

Now, this incredibly rare and important piece of Porsche history is up for grabs yet again, though the asking price is only available for those that successfully complete an application with the intention of purchasing it – or in other words, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Regardless, we have no doubt that this very special 959 will find a new home in due time.